I have very mixed feelings about it. I also adored the art and setting, and I really appreciate the historical research that has gone into making it. And there were some well written characters in there.

But man, the game is sloooooow. The last act in particular was like pulling teeth. Reading is fine when what you’re reading about is interesting. There were so many banal, shallow and uninteresting conversations in there that really tested my patience.

I just played through Pentiment and even on the fastest speed dialogues were painfully slow. It wouldn’t fix all the other pacing issues, but the text popping up instantly would be a huge improvement.

It stopped being a story with unpredictability and actual stakes. There was a time I felt like anyone was at risk, even “main characters”, and it was awesome. It just turned into more of a Sunday morning cartoon - which is fine - it’s just not for me.

I also got sick and tired of them doing the “guess who’s back from the dead?” plotline a bazillion times.

I played for a while and enjoyed it, but eventually it became clear the developers were taking both the story and the gameplay in directions I didn’t like.

Heavensward was a great story, Stormblood patch quests were amazing. Shadowbringers had its very high peaks of course but even there they had started doing things in the story I hated.

I’d watch it.

“Coming this fall: ten billionaires are locked in a house with a murderous psychopath. Who will be the first victim, and who make it to the end? Use your phone to vote each week on what weapons the murderer will have access to! Introducing: Bigger Brother! Only on cable!”

In many ways billionaires are worse than the other disasters listed.

Pure, unadulterated capitalism and greed finding new and horrifying ways of bleeding the people dry. Colour me unsurprised.

Great list. I think I will replay about half your list at some point over the coming years. And might first time play Love For Sail as well.

There are a lot of great mods for BG2 as well to keep the game feeling fresh. Even moreso if you don’t mind adding some fanfiction material, though I typically don’t.

I was not aware of aggregatet.org, that’s a cool instance. An instance run by a democratic organisation is interesting. Left leaning too. Might have to make an account there actually.

I have replayed Baldur’s Gate 2 more than any other narrative game, and will probably do another playthrough in the coming years. So it’s most likely that. Oh, and Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven multiplayer on the PS2 whenever I am over at one specific friend’s place. That was our go-to couch game growing up and it’s still nostalgic.

I’m about halfway through Pentiment and I’m not sure what to think of it. There are lots of things I love about it: the art, the characters, the writing (mostly) and the historical research that’s gone into making it. All the running around and back tracking hasn’t been great. The first murder was also very unsatisfying, and it’s only now that I realise that that was the point. And I’m not sure what to think of that. It’s a strange game, with its central message seemingly being how powerless we are in the face of history and how restricted we are in our lives. Or at least people were back then. I’ll probably have to wait until I finish for my full judgement of it though.

I also snagged Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree on the Steam summer sale at 25% off. As a passionate VTM: Bloodlines fan I’ve been waiting for a reason to buy it. I’ve felt obliged to check it out as it was also written by Brian Mitsoda. Plus the game itself looked interesting. I’ve only just started playing it, but I’m enjoying it so far. The writing seems okay (not Bloodlines level) but the presentation is beautiful. I really like the splash art for characters and the cutscenes. It’s a Metroidvania Soulslike with a skill tree inspired by Path of Exile, and I can already tell I’ll have a lot of fun crafting builds here. Probably huge replayability too. The combat has felt solid so far, but I’m only at the beginning.

Too true. It’s depressing that this is the world we’re living in.

It’s a tale as old as time.

“Hasn’t improved” is a very polite way of putting it, but wouldn’t “gone to shit” be more accurate?

Not surprised. Haven’t we read about Roblox being a predator-filled hellhole for years now?

I will be hesitant until the modding gurus go over the exact implementation. I’ve been burned before about “A-life” in STALKER 2.

Modding support is huge though, as is mutant parts. This is the state it should have shipped in, but my guess from the start was that they really couldn’t afford another delay.

Would be a great service for the community to have it up and running again.

I remember that map, it was a great resource. Like you say, visualizing defederations would be especially helpful.